Rescue workers gather at the Nutty Putty Cave in Elberta, Utah to help rescue a man stuck deep in the cave on Wednesday. The recovery effort was on hold Thursday as officials tried to determine how best to proceed.

John Jones, left, seen in this undated photo with wife Emily Dawn Jones, died Thursday after he became stuck upside-down in Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking site about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  A recovery effort to extract the body of a man who became trapped in a cave was on hold Thursday as officials tried to determine how best to proceed.

John Jones, 26, died early Thursday, nearly 28 hours after he became stuck upside-down in Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking site about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.

It's unclear when the effort to recover his body will resume, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon of Utah County sheriff's office. Rescue teams had been using drilling equipment to try and free Jones from the cave while he was still alive. Cannon said recovery work can be more aggressive than a rescue because the victim's well-being is considered differently.

Jones was part of a group of 11 people exploring the cave passages. The 6-foot-tall, 190-pound spelunker got stuck with his head at an angle below his feet about 9 p.m Tuesday. At times more than 50 rescuers were involved in trying to free him.

The crevice was about 150 feet below ground in an L-shaped area of the cave known as "Bob's Push," which is only about 18 inches wide and 10 inches high, Cannon said.

Jones was freed from the crevice late Wednesday afternoon but fell back several feet into the tight space when an anchor in the cave roof that supported the pulley system failed, Cannon said.

Rescuers were able to get him food and water during that temporary freedom. But in the hours after he became wedged again, Jones' physical condition deteriorated.

Jones' death is the first known fatality at the cave, according to the Utah County sheriff's office. Search and rescue workers successfully rescued two people from the same spot in the cave during the same week in 2004.

"It's not very often where you come in, you have high hopes and you are going into an operation you have done before with success and then you get into a situation where it doesn't go as you planned," Cannon said.

"Caving isn't generally considered to be a dangerous sport," Cannon said. "But I think you can safely say this is a dangerous spot in that cave."

The sheriff's office wouldn't give an opinion about whether the cave should remain open for recreation or be closed, Cannon said.

The cave is privately owned by Utah's State Institutional Trust Land Administration. Reservations and an access pass is required to explore the cave, with usage restricted to about six groups daily.

Cave access manager, Michael Leavitt said the Jones group had a pass and were experienced cavers, based on the information provided on a pass application.

Nutty Putty is now closed until a decision can be made about its future, Leavitt said.

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